Injured Sehwag ruled out of ICC World Twenty20

Explosive Indian batsman and vice-captain Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 2009 due to a shoulder injury.

Sehwag was forced to miss the practice games prior to the event and in India’s opening match against Bangladesh, middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma was sent in as the opener.

The 31-year old hard hitting batsman picked up the injury during the recent second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa and the injury aggravated soon after the team's arrival in England.

In Sehwag's absence, the 22-year-old Sharma played a superb knock of 80 off 53 balls in the nine-wicket win against arch-rivals Pakistan and also helped India to a healthy start against Bangladesh in the first match.

The All-India Selection Committee picked Dinesh Karthik as replacement and conveyed the appointment in a statement issued by the BCCI. The Indian team right now does not have a backup for regular keeper and captain MS Dhoni.

Ironically, Dinesh Karthik represented the Delhi team in the IPL that was led by Virender Sehwag. He scored 288 runs from 15 games at an average of 36. Karthik was India's leading scorer in the Test tour of England in 2007, helping his country win its first series in England in 21 years. Scoring three half-centuries in as many games, Karthik had excelled in English conditions.

He was also part of the Indian squad that won the maiden edition of the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa and played in the initial leg of the tournament before being dropped for the semi-finals and the finals